Christmas 2020 Newsletter

Hello! Welcome to our latest newsletter!
We hope this finds you well and looking forward to a new year!

What has been happening in our classes...

 

Due to ongoing COVID-19 restrictions some of what we had planned, sadly was unable to happen. We are thankful that due to a combination of face to face and online teaching, as well as paper resource packs being sent out many of our students were able to continue with their learning in some format.

We were delighted to receive positive feedback from both students and organisations. Although there were some students who struggled to access our classes, we have seen many make great progress! Very well done to all our students, and our teachers, for adapting and continuing in spite of the challenges which have faced them.

In the new year, as well as continuing with our current classes, in whatever format we are able to deliver them, we plan to launch an IT/ESOL pilot course in Sheffield City Centre. We will develop a 12-week course and plan to trial this after February half term with a select group of learners from Snowdrop.

Fantastic Fundraising!

Our fabulous fundraising volunteer Rachel has been busy writing grant applications and we have been delighted to receive £8000 in grant funding this year! Many thanks to Rachel for all her hard work!

We also were gifted £100 by local Temple Spa businesswoman Jenny, who raffled off a gorgeous advent calendar in aid of our work! Thank you Jenny!

Welcome Lisa!

Lisa is the newest member of the Hope English School team, and will work as a volunteer funding and research assistant. She will work alongside Rachel with fundraising, as well as undertaking a research project into digital inclusion and the barriers faced by many, in the communities we work with.

We want to take this opportunity to wish you a happy and peaceful Christmas and New Year. May you have the opportunity to rest and reflect on the last year and remember with thankfulness all the goodness of life.

Autumn 2019 Newsletter

Welcome to a new year at Hope English School!

September has gone by in a flash and we have settled back into the rhythm of Hope English life. We have started up several new classes and have welcomed three new members of staff into our team (as well as saying goodbye to others)

Our Classes This Term

We now run a total of three classes for the Snowdrop Project, a lower and higher level English class as well as our more informal conversation class.

We have started a conversation club at the Refugee Council. This allows students to benefit from informal conversational practice with local people. By doing this they not only build confidence but also learn more about life and work in the UK.

Through funding secured last year we have been able to restart much needed classes in Doncaster. After assessing the needs of the area through conversations with other frontline organisations we decided to launch a basic literacy course. For many of our students speaking and listening is far easier than reading and writing. For students who never had the opportunity to learn to read and write in their own language, learning to read and write in a second language is a huge challenge! This course aims to equip learners with basic literacy skills needed for life in the UK.

Our final class is funded by Bassetlaw District Council and is specifically for the Syrian Refugees who have been resettled in the local area. This is a small but precious group who have made huge progress since we started teaching them over a year ago.

Goodbye Christie, Julien and Yasmin!

We were very sad to say goodbye to our fabulous fundraising volunteers Christie and Yasmin as well as our volunteer spreadsheet whizz Julien.

We thank you so much for your hard work and wish all of you the best for your futures!

New Staff at Hope English School!

We are delighted to have welcomed Jane, Luz and Liz into the Hope English family!

As well as teaching, Jane is our class co-ordinator which involves organising the delivery of classes across the Sheffield City Region, as well as liaising with clients and supporting teachers and volunteers.

Luz and Liz have both taken on teaching roles. Liz has previously volunteered with us, but has now stepped up to teach.

We wish them all good luck in their new roles and are so pleased to have them as part of the team.

Could you give regularly to support our work?

We rely on fundraising to provide our students with the resources they need to achieve. Whether that's childcare to allow them to concentrate or a folder to help keep everything organised.
We are inviting all our supporters to think about becoming regular givers. If this is something you would be interested in finding out more about please get in touch with Katy or head over to our website for more information.

“Communitea Party” raises more than £100!

Our Communitea Party, held at the end of last term, was a great success. We enjoyed great cake and community with supporters, staff and students. We raised £106.81 which will be used directly to support our students.

Thank you to all who came, baked for and supported this event!

Huge congratulations to our directors Anna and Katy (along with Katy's husband Pete) who ran the Sheffield 10k to raise money for our partners Snowdrop Project!

We are well on our way to becoming a registered charity, this means we will be able to receive gift aid on donations (and will hopefully be able to claim gift aid on past donations too!)